Welcome to the Indie Tabletop Newsletter, hear from independent tabletop games designers about their current and upcoming projects. Take a look at the games we’ve already self-published and our upcoming Kickstarters, maybe even get yourself a free print n play game. Learn more about this newsletter here.
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I chose Microdot Games as a nod to my passion for tiny games. “A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size” and I want to make games that pack a lot of gameplay into a tiny package. A single sheet of paper seemed like a good place to start.
Roll A Coaster Park is a roll and write game of building a rollercoaster park and filling it with guests. It’s designed to be a crunchy game that combines simple rules with tricky decisions. You have to manage your money, fulfill the guest requirements and connect and fit your polyomino buildings into a small space.
There are map packs and expansions planned, so if anyone fancies some playtesting please get in touch! As with any new project I would super appreciate if you would take a look at the Kickstarter if you have a spare moment. Hope to see you in the comments! Cheers, Alex – Microdot Games.
The Feline Crimes of No.29 is a set of two logic puzzles. Both are on A5 greetings cards (with envelopes and everything!), so you can send them exactly as you would a birthday card. And really, who would send any other card when you can send one with a mystery to solve?
The logic puzzles take about 10 minutes each. There are two designs so far, but we expect another couple of designs later this year…possibly for Christmas.
Come see us at UKGE! We’re on stand 1-571, and will have some of these greetings cards for sale. We’ll also have the very last copies of Library Labyrinth, and we’re expecting to do not only a reprint, but also a smaller card game based in the same library!
Players play simultaneously mapping out the paths of their coasters using the dice values to plot the next lengths of track. Challenges are presented at the start of the game with the lead player rolling two dice and the players marking those goals. There is a race to complete those for the 3 points each! Players will also find themselves plotting their coaster tracks to enclose other rides, ice cream carts, and more as they wind their way around the map. Is it better to make short coasters that bring about quick scores or is it better to have long winding coasters that overlap themselves as they careen around the entire area?
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Each coaster has its own powers that will help the players complete their goals from the Twisted Coaster that overlaps other coasters to the Turbo Coaster that makes every value 1 die into a value 7 die!
Players can also tinker with the dice results spending wrenches to adjust the track position to just the right spot for themselves. With 3 spots to start tracks, the players will find themselves challenged every game looking for the perfect combination of coasters!
I’m very proud of the book and excited to see it going into the world at large, or at least moving towards doing so.
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In it we examine the theory and philosophy of what makes a miniatures game the sort of game we think it is, the mechanics that make such a game up along with the strengths and weaknesses around them. I think it will be a really useful book for people working on their own minis games, thinking about designing one, or anyone just interested in a different way of approaching some design problems.
We don’t have a date of final publication yet, the book has to go through final editing checks and formatting for publication (and we’ve got to create an index after that), but I’ll certainly let everyone know when it does. Until then, we’ll be talking about it and the subjects in it on our game design podcast/video series Rule of Carnage, so please drop by and follow along there.
For Unfringed, April has mostly been focused on preparing and running the campaign for our 2nd game, Molehill Meadows! You play as Mika the Mole, a furry adventurer with a love for treasure and juicy worms in this flip & write board game. Strategically tunnel across flower-filled meadows by rotating, and flipping tunnel tiles to expand your molehill home. Make connections, achieve bonus objectives, and combine mighty worm powers to score as many points as possible! Be careful not to attract too much attention with any extra molehills though!
By the time this newsletter goes out the campaign will be funded (209% as of writing) and the short campaign will be finished but I wanted to say another huge thank you for everyone that shared, backed or have just generally supported Unfringed over the last few years!
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As we head into May it’s getting close to UK Game Expo time, one of my favourite events of the year. This year we’ll be on Stand 1-325, with Zuuli, plushies (1 new one!), Molehill Meadows and of course a new Zuuli promo card. I’m also excited and a little nervous to be doing two signing sessions over the weekend for Moving Wild, Oink Games reimplementation of Zuuli, so please do come and say hi on the Hachette UK/Oink stand.
That’s all for now and I look forward to chatting in person with all of you heading to the NEC for UKGE this year!
It’s a full three day weekend of gaming goodness and it’s almost tradition now that I run out of stock of something on the Friday (no, I’m not complaining hehe), though I am doing all I can to make sure I have plenty of stock of everything I can, especially the three Playful Pets games, they always seem to do really well at UKGE, clearly I need to make more pet based games in general.
Ahead of UKGE I’ll be attending Gweeplefest on May 11th, it’s a lovely gaming event run by the Gweeples board game group in Didcot. I love the smaller board game conventions and I really wish there were more nearby that I could exhibit at.
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If you’ll be coming along to either event and you know something you want please let me know and I’ll set it aside for you, placing an order ahead of the convention means you save on postage by collecting it there and it also helps me to plan ahead and make sure I have what I need for the weekend. Photo of me at UKGE last year, because, why not?! If you’re coming by, look for the very bright hair and you’ll find me 😊.
Social Media – There’s a lovely little group of indie designers on Instagram using the hashtag #BoardGameProtoHype, every week there’s a new theme for us to post about, I’ve really enjoyed it, there’s been great engagement from everyone and it’s a wonderful way to meet new designers and find more indie games to fall in love with!
With that in mind you can find me on most social media platforms as Atikin Games, I try to keep active on there, even if it’s just a post here and there when I’m busy. See you there!
Borrow against your pack’s goodwill to achieve success, but don’t push your luck too far, or you might end up with a ‘muttiny’ on your paws! Play competitively or in co-op and solo game modes against the menacing Measley Moggy Fleet! The game offers a combination of pick up and deliver, push your luck, light economics and terrier(!)tory building amongst other mechanics.
You can check out the explainer video that will be on the Kickstarter campaign this summer by searching for Teleporthole Games on YouTube.
We’ve also got a new Murder Mystery themed card game under development and have started to playtest the game with our friends at Playtest UK.
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We’ve had some great initial feedback and will be progressing this whilst the Tails of the Sea Kickstarter is underway. With a good headwind, we should have this ready for publishing in Autumn. More info to come…
